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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Account Deleted" data-source="post: 125137" data-attributes="member: 886">I've looked into some stats going back as far as the NDGF has records. Here is a snippet for the last 10 years or so of available data (from when I requested it, there is probably 2015 data available now). These are estimates. There is no 100% accurate way of tracking resident waterfowl hunters right now.  Res.       Non-Res.2005     28,331  24,6392006     26,560  22,2772007     25,546  22,8582008     24,001  18,4852009     22,105  21,9742010     22,664  23,6242011     25,332  23,3232012     25,789  23,7562013     23,899  24,2952014     23,606  24,252As you can see, numbers are fairly stable. Some years there are more residents than nonresidents, some years not. You have to look back farther to see where the problem started (mid-90s).Starting in the mid-90s, there was an explosion of non-resident waterfowl hunters. In 1994 there was about 10,000 NR hunters. By 1999, there was 21,000. By 2001, there was 30,000. That was about the peak and there was a slight downturn and now a stabilization statistically speaking. The increase coincided with MN waterfowl hunting going to shit. Their water quality took a dump and so did the duck hunting. The migration shifted west and so did the duck hunters. ND had plenty of non-posted land, a generous trespass law and was right next door. MN used to be a duck hunting Mecca if you will. It was nationally known as the place to live for serious duck hunters. Now, it's depressing at best. Unfortunately I don't have resident numbers for the same time frame because they are just included with general game licenses. You don't fill out any paperwork when you buy a waterfowl stamp. I feel the sudden increase in hunters was generally just absorbed to begin with. Birds were still spread out. Not much land was posted. People were able to find abundant hunting opportunities without a lot of competition. Then, things changed. First and foremost, ag practices. I once hypothesized that corn pushed the migration later because it was a higher energy food than small grains allowing the birds to stay later. I was right but for the wrong reasons. The answer is simpler in that the corn doesn't come down until November and the birds don't like to feed in it until it comes down. Simple enough. Since there is so much of it grown now for whatever reason (ethanol) there was a major change in the migration. Birds didn't space out from September to October anymore. They show up last week of October-first week of November and freeze up often happens a week later. Birds are pushed out right away. In addition, big changes to ag practices in Canada. For whatever reason, they started growing more waterfowl friendly crops in the late 90's and I guess leave more waste in the fields. Thus the birds stay up there and we generally get the same weather they do. So when they get pushed out of Canada, they blow past North Dakota. Finally, hunting practices. Hunting birds in field used to be considered low-brow. Now the entire thing has been stood on its head. Field hunting is all anyone wants to do. Hunting over water is now considered crude, to which I say "bullshit". You aren't going to shoot a redhead, canvasback, or any other diver in a field. Get off my back. Also, the huge increase in pressure resulted in a lot of land getting posted up. Hard to gain permission on a field sometimes when its 8 o'clock  at night and you need to be in the field at 4 AM the next morning. For the uneducated in waterfowl behavior, they get highly concentrated. They aren't like pheasant where you can kick one or two out of every other clump of cover and bang out a limit. If you don't have the field, you aren't getting birds. Some other interesting pieces of info. About 25% of sales are for NRs are statewide licenses. Most of the NRs make hunting trips of 3-5 days. Only about 20% make a second trip. Meaning 80% aren't using the second week they are allotted. So what to do from here forward? It is important to me to have quality hunting for everyone involved. When we are stepping all over one another hunting increasingly clumped up birds, no one is happy. So first, I think we need to find a way to get hunters spread out more. The Devils Lake area should probably be its own zone with different regulations. Generally I'm not anti NR. I like to hunt and fish out of state so I know the struggle of being a NR. But with that being said, big game tags aren't unlimited to NRs in other states. Some years, I have to go with out. Here too as a a resident. We may need to start treating waterfowl the same and put a cap on the numbers. 10-15,000 maybe. I would ban ethanol with a flick of the wrist if I could but that won't happen.So, I need ideas. Things need to change if waterfowl hunting is going to be any good here. My legislators are pretty approachable and I would like to pitch some ideas to them.</blockquote>

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